Arizona shooting: Survivor took neighbor girl to see Gabrielle Giffords

Woman was shot 3 times, but news of 9-year-old's death 'most horrific'

When Susan Hileman saw a notice about U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' outreach event, she knew just who she needed to take: her 9-year-old neighbor.

Christina Taylor Green had just been elected to the student council at school and had a new interest in politics.

Susan wasn't pushing any particular ideology when she took the little girl to see Giffords but thought the congresswoman would be a positive role model.

"It was women being proud of other women," says her husband, Bill Hileman.

Susan is 58 and Christina was in third grade, but they were close friends. They would have been hand in hand in line, waiting to meet Giffords, when the shooting began, Bill says.

Christina was shot once through the chest and later died at a hospital. Susan was hit three times but survived.

At the hospital, when Susan aroused from sedation, she asked first about Christina, her husband says. Social workers at the hospital told Bill to tell her the truth. Bill could barely choke out the words to tell her.

"She has three bullet-shot wounds," he says, "but the loss of Christina is the wound that is most horrific."

The bullets missed Susan's major organs. She is expected to survive the surgeries and rehabilitation ahead of her. But she will mourn her young friend.

"That is the ultimate tragedy of this," Bill says. "That's going to be ultimately, long term, the toughest aspect of this to deal with."

Recently retired and with their two children grown and on their own, the Hilemans moved to Arizona in July 2006, from Marin County, Calif. They fell in love with Tucson, a nice-size town, Bill says, where the people are decent and civil.

"We wanted a community that was closer to the American melting pot that we always dreamed about," Bill says.

The Green family moved into the neighborhood not long afterward. Christina was just about to turn 7.

"She hadn't sprouted yet," Bill says. She grew a lot in the past year, shooting up nearly as tall as Susan, who is just 5-foot-1.

"She's very bright, very engaging human being," Bill says of his wife of 35 years.

Susan is one of those people who is involved in the community from dawn to dusk, Bill says. He can't keep track of all her activities. And she was drawn to children.

Their own children are 27 and 25, and don't have any children yet, Bill says with a laugh: "We supplement by helping with other people's children."

Soon after the Greens moved in, Susan became friends with Christina's mother, Roxanna, and instantly took to her little girl.

"The two of them were just thick as thieves," Bill says.

Christina often came to visit, with news from school, or baseball practice, or ballet. They regularly did things together.

After Susan, a master gardener, hired Christina to water her plants while the Hilemans were on a trip, she helped the little girl create her own plant-sitting business, even printing up business cards and going with her door-to-door in the neighborhood for prospective customers.

"The little girl just had a spark and a precocious willingness to deal with adults," Bill says. And she spoke her mind, just like Susan: "Just straight up in your face, she would tell you what she thinks."

In the hospital, Susan is recalling some of the tragic event. She has told her husband that she and Christina heard the bullets and knew they were in danger. Susan wrapped her arms around Christina, and they ran.

"I know my wife and I know that motherly instinct would have come first," Bill says. "If she couldn't jump on the guy, I could see her trying to protect Christina."

Susan is a retired social worker, used to comforting other people in difficult situations. In her good moments, she understands that what happened to Christina is nobody's fault, but there are other times when she feels tremendously guilty.

Christina's funeral will be on Thursday.

The Greens, even in their own despair, sent an e-mail to the Hilemans, telling the couple that they loved them and that Christina's friendship with Susan was important, and that she was not to blame herself.

"It was incredibly big-hearted," Bill chokes out. It will be a comfort to his wife.